Baowolf mentor group is [ Closed ] (Page 21)

Ugh, yes, I remember you mentioning the pine pollen.  Mine seems to be getting worse and lasting longer, so something is going to have to give.  Long swim is on tap for tomrrow, and not looking forward to the aftermath.

Carol - I dropped the track a couple weeks ago and felt really good about it. last night with the poor weather, it seemed best to stay off the road. I find having measures like one lap of the track, or wall in the pool, are big mental blocks for me. It seems that I press for the lap and loose sight of pacing. The speed might improve but the endurance might lag. Today looks like another poor weather day, so I will stick to the pool tonight!

Finally a feel good run for me this morning...6.5 miles.  Cool front helped, and I threw in a few strides and intervals yesterday in my shorter run that may have helped rid my legs of that sloggy feeling I couldn't seem to shake.  Bike ride on tap later today.

OLY coming up for me in late May, and then I signed up for a sprint in June to keep things fun.  The sprint is in the town where I grew up from 6th grade on, and finishes at the local HS football stadium.  My parents still live there so maybe will come.  I realize this is just marketing, but it's an "invitational"...had to place top 10 in AG in a race last year.  Anyway, hoping maybe that will keep it a little smaller so the pool swim is not the crowded circus it usually is. 

LOL. I feel like I've started this ride about a week ago in bits & pieces. Can hardly wait for it all to come together .

Mike

nice workouts last week Mike.  The run is steady across distances, bike and swim soild.  You are closing in on 10 hours of workouts in a week nice milestone there.  Keep it up. 

Carol go rock that Oly, it is going to seem so short for you.... 8). 

Oh I finally registered for the Fort Collins HIM.  It should be a lovely high 90's kind of race and the firs hill on the bike climbs from an elevation 5,000 feet o 7,000 feet.  I really need to do a flat race again one of these days, no way to judge impovemet on these crazy hill courses.  

A warmish, when did 71F become warm, well warmish 6 mile run today at 7:46 pace, went out a little slower today on purpose, maybe intervals tomorrow if I am not too smoked.  First swim in 2 weeks tonight, will see how far I go when I get there.  I would love to be in the water right now 8).  I'll have to dial in my training plan for the nex race. 

Oh I ordered that book on te BT border about swimming.  Although I tend to not like reading books since graduate school I think I will give this one a go.  Need to swim faster. 

 Oh well off to finish another 20 page report.

Need some feedback on something. Have felt sort of odd the past week or so, but I think in a good way. I feel like I constantly need to be moving. Sitting at my desk, its like I have this big energy reserve and its just fighting to get out. I assume this is normal for this point in training, and just a few weeks out from a longer race?

In other news, a bit of a small injury this AM swimming. Somehow ended up with a muscle pull between my spine & left shoulder blade. Tried to work it out, but it was sore every time I pulled, and I ended up cutting my workout short. Will let it rest and see how it is tomorrow night before I plan my Friday swim.

Nice work in the pool, everyone!

A big build is like that.  Some days you have a ton of energy and then others, not so much.  Most folks feel over energized during a taper where the don't know what to do with themselves, especially for a HIM or IM where it is 2-3 weeks.  Do some hillwork or speedwork and you should be able to drop back to normal energy levels.  Part of it can be just the return of normal energy after having a cold for 3 weeks. 

I had the same spot lastnight on my swim.  I could feel it, but it didn't turn into a pull, just something to note for me.  I have to always watch my shoulders when swim building, neither one is great.  I would probably take a few days off the swim and when you go back go reaaaall low intensity. 

Hrm almost through that bag of 100 cough drops, time to get more.  This thing just won't go away. 

Nice swim Steve...under 2:00/100....very nice! 

I did 2500 straight this morning, but it took me 56 mins, so 2:14/100.  On the plus side, I purposely kept it easy.  Think I could push a bit more, but trying to figure out "long swim" pace.  Allergy issues already ramping up . 

Mike_D - 2012-05-09 9:44 AM LOL -- its like I've had 10 cups of coffee

My office is in a building on Boston Harbor, and I find myself looking out the window at the other side and saying "Yeah, I think I could swim there & back..."

Glad you are feeling energetic and can save some $$'s on the starbucks!  What Joe said re: bouncing back after being sick may very well be part of it.  I've noticed that at times too. 

I agree re: calling that a "hill".  No, that is a MOUNTAIN in my book.

Hope you were able to get those workouts in.  It's always a juggling act...especially for those w/ kiddos.  My hat is off to you!

Hrm, Monday's run 7:30, Tuesday 7:46, today 8:32 mpm.  Drat I'm getting slower.  Or I need to not run tomorrow.  Not sure about the bike for tonight.  I may drop it or just reduce it and go easy.  When my short run is slower than my long run, it is the fatigue monster.

Nice swim Carol! 

Question for our newer triathletes, how do you find your stuff in transition?

Not sure if I'm still a rookie or not, but based on past races, my answer is "slowly" .

Carol - how are the allergies holding up? I am really excited for your upcoming Oly. I am certain you are going to rock it in every way possible! 2:14/100 is the plus side silly

Steve - You would know about the ups and down of training and fatigue. This week has actually been tough for me and its my rest week. I got a good laugh when I read about 71F being warm; for me that is approaching too hot. Guess that is the difference between living in Idaho and Cali. If I lived in the heat some of y'all live in I would never go outside to train. How the swimming book? And great 2000y swim!

Larry - 2500 yards is fantastic! I think we all survive the first few times we pull higher distances. Way to hang in there! It's the short victories that keep us moving on to the next challenge - great job!

Mike - I totally know what you are talking about. I have never been a need to move constantly person, but I definitely catch myself moving my hands, arms, legs and feet way more often now. Glad I am not the only one. I certainly hope the injury in your back works itself out quickly. I never used ice until two weeks ago for muscle soreness, and I am sure injuries are a bit idfferent but maybe it will help. You can totally take Boston Harbor! BTW, I am slightly jealous that you live in Boston. Someday I will see that city!

On a personal note, I have something to share that made my day on Tuesday. A little background to set the stage will be helpful.  Last year was the first time in my life I actually began swimming on a regular basis. At that time I had not taken swim lessons at any point in my life, so I was applying things I read, heard or watched to teach myself. Then I took a short class on tri-swimming, which had some good stuff but didn't do much in helping me improve my technique. I was a little disappointed, but just kept hitting the pool and paying attention to everything my body was doing so I could make it do what I thought was right based on all the I had picked up on. So here I am in a new season and I stopped swimming for a while because I was concerned my stroke needed improvement and I didn't want to keep practicing incorrectly, then our faithful mentor told me to get swimming again. So I did. Then I decided I would invest in some lessons geared toward technique and improvement. Now comes the good part,-- on Tuesday the swim instructor told me I have a beautiful swim stroke. YES! I was thrilled. She didn't give me anything but endurance to work on. I am so pleased to know I haven't been totally off base, and though I have lots to learn I am on a good path. And to top it all off, during Tuesdays swim class I was pulling 1:58/100 consistenly. It was a glorious day. Glad I have y'all to share it with.

The rest of my week has been crummy. My bike yesterday was slow and I felt so tired. My leg muscles were still quit sore, then today I wrestled with myself about whether I would workout or not. Partly because I started work at 6:30 and didn't finish the day until 9. In the end I went to the gym to get in my run and realized I forgot my shoes. I decided it was just going to be a rest day for me. I'm icing my legs some more and believing tomorrow will be a better day.

Good-night!

Samantha, glad to hear about your swimming success.  I keep plugging away, and would love to get in the time range you are at.  Great job!!  It seems that everyone on here struggles to make time for training.  I know one of the best things I am learning about is time management myself.  Last night, I dropped my 12 year old off for a baseball game at 5.  The game started at 6, so I strapped my bike on the car and did a one hour brick and finished right before the game.

On another note, for those of you who like to read I have read a few really cool books about endurance sports lately.  "Born to Run" is about a small tribe of runners who travel 50 or 100 miles regularly in the forests of Mexico on their own two feet.  I also read "You are an Ironman", which tells the story of 6 regular people, and their stories about training and finishing Ironman Arizona.  Finally, "Hell on Two Wheels" is about a bike race across America.  It is 2800 miles, and riders have 12 days to officially finish.  The winner usually does it in 8.  That is averaging 350 miles per day.  The leaders usually only sleep about an hour a day.  It makes my impending 45 mile ride seem pedestrian. 

Swim breakthroughs are the best! The sudden feeling of "Oh - THATS how that works" is a great motivator.

Got up early today and hit the trainer for an hour. Rode along to The Sufferfests "Fight Club" video, and completely destroyed myself. Just buckets of sweat. Glad when it was done .  Had planned on a short brick workout this AM (45 min spin/30 min run) but it was pouring like I needed to build an ark, so I'll do that workout tonight.

As for finding stuff in transition, after I get set up, I do a couple walk throughs of the swim in/bike out & bike in/run out chutes, and do things like count rows to my stuff, find a landmark to approximate where I am, etc. Helps quite a bit when you're stumbling out of the water to know your bike is 1/2 way down rack 2, etc.